# Platinum Blonde- products, pics, etc.



## Scarlette (Sep 13, 2007)

I wanted to start this thread because I've noticed a lot of message boards and "How-to" DIY guides really do suck. I am NOT a professional colorist, but I've bleached my hair about a million times in my life (my hair is different than anyone elses, so my methods may or may not work for you) I've also taken some of these methods off of message boards from people who have tried them at home and claim that they also work. I actually hope that someone can help me out with this and suggest better products.

My method:

I have naturally thick red hair, medium length.. each strand is thick, so I can imagine that it's hard for the bleach to penetrate it, but it was pre-dyed with blonde hair dye from the drugstore. I normally have to bleach my hair 4 times to achieve the platinum blonde look, but not all in one day.. I bleach it over a period of about a month.

-Jerome Russell powder bleach (Longs drugs)

-Ms. Kay Liquid Developer 40 volume (Sally's)

-Big tinting brush (Sally's)

-Plastic bowl, gloves, wide tooth comb, plastic cap

I wash my hair the night before so that it's clean, but not damp when I am ready to bleach it. I put on my gloves and dump the powdered bleach into the plastic bowl, I add the liquid developer (in the amount of whatever it says on the bleach package) I mix it with my big tinting brush until it's nice and creamy (I normally like my bleach to be like blue cheese dressing consistency, but without the chunks!) I start applying mixture to the back of my head first.. most instructions tell you to stay about 1 cm away from your roots because the heat from your head will process the bleach faster.. but since I am lazy, I just slap it on. I work my way up to the front and if there's an area that's really light (like the top of my head), I won't bleach that until about the last 10 minutes of the process. I put the cap on and wait about 20-40 minutes (read the package!) and I turn the blow dryer on low-high setting to heat up my hair, don't get too close to the plastic cap or it will melt!

I check the progress every 5 minutes. When it's about the last 10 minutes of the processing time, I add the bleach to the lighter parts of my hair because those normally bleach out in about 5-10 minutes anyway. I keep on with the blow dryer periodically when it seems that my hair is cooling down. I used to foil it , but my hair actually boiled and sizzled inside of the foil. I had my hair bleached professionally at a salon and they boiled my hair in the foil and had to do an emergency rinse.. lol.

So when my hair looks like a pale yellow (everyone says it should look like the inside of a banana peel, but mine won't get that light all over) I hop in the shower and very gently rise out my hair with lukewarm water with my eyes tightly shut. When you hair feels super smooth when rinsing it out, sometimes that means you melted your hair and it's going to fall out. NO JOKE. I haven't melted my hair in years, but I know how it feels. Normally I use a ton of good conditioner right afterwards. I use Pantene Ice Shine or Neutrogena Triple Conditioner (it comes in a jar) and I let that sit in my hair for about 3 minutes and rise with cool water.

Well, your hair is yellow, so you need to get that out now. If your hair didn't get pale yellow, then you will need to bleach it again.. it's up to you when to do it again, but I normally wait about a few days to a week before I do it again. I am scared to tell someone with long and dark hair to keep bleaching their hair, because it could fall out. My hair is short and bleaches uneven all the time, so I have to "spot" bleach it a few times after doing all of this the same day after drying my hair to get rid of embarassing "rainbow" effects.

The next part is pretty important.. TONER. TONER TONER.. I can't keep saying this enough.. TONER!!!!

My hair was the pale yellow.. and I want my hair as close to white as possible. Think Gwen Stefani or Christina Aguliera. I bought this "old lady" liquid toner called Fanci-ful by Roux in the shade of White Minx. I hear there's a color called "Ultra White Minx" which I may buy next time to see if it will help with the yellow tones. This stuff is a purple color, which, if you look on the color chart, purple is the opposite color of yellow, so purple cancels out yellow to create white. I am a purple toner maniac. Here's the products I use to maintain my "platinum look".

-KMS blonde shampoo (It tones your hair with the purple stuff while you wash it)

- Fanci-ful White Minx

- Lots of diff. conditioners.. I am still experimenting with those for a good one

- V05 Hot oil treatment (Not sure if this is any good, I've only tried it TODAY and my hair is still wet)

- Fantasia Straightening Serum (In pink bottle.. I love this stuff)

Now, with the Fanci-ful stuff, I squirt it on and sort of pat it into my hair with my hand then blot with a towel. I do this twice! You can see your hair turning this kinda cool lavender color, but it fades as it dries. After I blot my hair, I use the Fantasia serum, which is really oily, so don't use a lot. I try to look for serums that do not have alcohol in them, there's one that is pretty popular (Farouk?) that actually dried my hair out and it is really crappy IMO. I also try not to dry my hair with a dyer too much ( in the Fall/Winter I have to or I will freeze to death ) but I like to air dry in the Summer as much as posisble. I use a flat iron everyday, it's solid ceramic, which is supposed to be the best (not coated ceramic like most are).

Yes, my hair is dry, and yes I wish that it was more white. I will post a picture as soon as I find that cord that goes to my camera.

If anyone has suggestions on better bleach , hair products and methods.. please post! Here are other methods I've taken from other message boards:

Clairol Basic White bleach (she said to leave on for 90 min!?! Maybe on virgin hair!?)

Wella Color Charm in White Lady or Silver Lady (Works as a toner and you have to buy the developer to go with it at the beauty supply store)

The poster claims this will get your hair white.. I haven't tried this yet, but I know I won't be leaving it on for 90 minutes!

This is what I heard Gwen Stefani uses, it's pretty expensive but maybe worth it:

Goldwell Oxycur Platin Lightening Powder ( Available only to professionals, but I saw it on Ebay and on a website called SleekHair.com - Discount Salon Hair Products )

Goldwell Topchic Pro Peroxide Developer in 30 volume (Not sure why they use 30 volume? Maybe it's strong)

Goldwell ColorGlow in Live Blonde (This is the toner and I hear it's good)

Anyway, please post!


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## southcitybabe (Sep 13, 2007)

Thanks for all that, its good info, I've done all my hair how I wanted and I notice a tint of yellow blonde but where it was lightened before its gone white blonde, I used the Swarkopf Live colors XXL in 002 and it turned pretty much right away.

I may look into a toner but right now it looks bright blonde with white streaks so mixes in well


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## Aprill (Sep 14, 2007)

very nice, thanks for posting!!


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## MamaRocks (Sep 23, 2007)

Cool, good info...


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## arphsfriend (Sep 23, 2007)

The biggest problem is the whiter you get it, the harder it is to maintain.


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## OscurePresenze (Feb 25, 2010)

I had my hair blue black for about 5 years. Had done a few streaks and the bottom of my hair before, but this time I wanted to doall my hair platinum blonde, so I stripped the black out with the color remover Effasol. (I didn't want to go straight into the bleach so it could be as light as possible before) I bleached my hair with V LIGHT from Matrix about three times, waiting about a month for each time. It's the best bleach I've ever used! Then I used Wella White Lady toner, which left my hair amazing! Definitely platinum how I wanted it. It isn't as damaged as I thought it'd be, but I use Dove Intense Damage Therapy Shampoo, BIOLAGE by Matrix and an Apoghee Reconstructor.


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## Geek (Feb 25, 2010)

Originally Posted by *OscurePresenze* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 

I had my hair blue black for about 5 years. Had done a few streaks and the bottom of my hair before, but this time I wanted to doall my hair platinum blonde, so I stripped the black out with the color remover Effasol. (I didn't want to go straight into the bleach so it could be as light as possible before) I bleached my hair with V LIGHT from Matrix about three times, waiting about a month for each time. It's the best bleach I've ever used! Then I used Wella White Lady toner, which left my hair amazing! Definitely platinum how I wanted it. It isn't as damaged as I thought it'd be, but I use Dove Intense Damage Therapy Shampoo, BIOLAGE by Matrix and an Apoghee Reconstructor. 


whoa, this thread is almost 3 years old.


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## Scarlette (Mar 9, 2010)

Funny! So, I use totally different products now.. AND I went back to black again since I posted the first time around! So, my hair is platinum again and I am using Kalidecolors purple bleach and the Clairol 323 Extra Light Platinum. It's not as white as I'd like, but I purchased a temporary toner from Special Effects (Amazon.com) that should take me to the super white stage. I'll post pics when I do it!


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## brewgrl (Mar 9, 2010)

Its sort of awesome that this thread made a comeback... I dream of going platinum... i love Obvious Platinum on Asian girls!!!


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## shayy (Mar 9, 2010)

i am brunette now and i feel like i will miss being blonde at some point! im just nervous cause i dont want to damage my hair. isn't there a way you can gradually go back to blonde by getting highlights in your hair until they cover your whole head!? haha or would that cause just as much damage?


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## OscurePresenze (Mar 19, 2010)

Try using Shimmer Lights Shampoo as well. Helps take out the brassy yellow color.


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## Fade to Black (Mar 21, 2010)

My hair is already bleached, but I have to constantly touch it up. I'm considering doing my roots on my own this time because having it professionally done is really costly, but I'm afraid I'm going to screw it up. Help a girl out?


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## XBoomBoomKittyX (Mar 24, 2010)

my hair is origonally a dark blonde color, but i had tryed to frost my hair and pulled through to much hair in the cap and came out with whiteish blonde hair.

my roots were showing through so i decided to get a bleach kit and do it.

the first time i bleached my hair was years ago and id been going through a dying stage so it wasnt very healthy and it got fried, this time my hair is just fine and as smooth and soft as it had been before i dyed it. in the light you can tell it has a lil yellow tone to it but i like it its not as bad as some girls who have very blonde roots and then the rest is orange.

i have a pic on my pro of my hair.


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## Scarlette (Apr 2, 2010)

Your hair is perfect! I totally have the "orange ends" hair and it drives me nuts. A lot of people say it looks cool though.. ugh. They don't get it. I am cutting off an inch of hair every two months until I get it all the orange cut off. It's fine.. I'll just have to wait. =)


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## pinky girl 111 (May 24, 2010)

Thanks for all that


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## Angelica<3 (May 25, 2010)

Thnx all!






I use Matrix- So Silver Shampoo once a week and it works very well! love it!

bleached some streaks in my hair and it was quite yellow. so I color it in a cool ash blonde and used the shampoo 2 times and my hair is perfect.


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## karbear512 (Jul 24, 2011)

I'm so excited to have found this! Im a bit late but wanted to share some of my favorite products.

I also like the Matrix So Silver, but Nexxus Simply Silver and Phyto Phytargent are my all time favs. I alternate between biosilk serum and aquage everyday before I blow dry and only wash my hair 2-3x a week. My favorite bleach is Wella used with the pastel developer. I LOVE Clairol Champagne beige toner but they've reformulated the line and now I have to buy it on Ebay because its no longer available in the store. I no longer experiment on my own hair, I get it professionally done. . .but its no longer platinum :-(   It is pretty long now, and thats the upside I guess, but Im still disappointed every time I leave because its not as ash as I want it and I still see yellow. Ive "cheated" on my colorist too many times though(and come back) to stray again. She is the only one who gets my hair light enough while still keeping it healthy. One guy got me nice and blonde, but as he was drying my hair it was coming out all over my black hoodie. . .tears on the drive home and disappointed once again. My girl just toned it the other day with Chrome from Redken and it turned out pretty but more gray then violet. I'd rather see the lavender silver tones  I'm glad I'm not the only crazy one out there, and I have good company in my quest for "the perfect blonde"!!!


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## jcathey6211 (Jul 25, 2011)

Hi, I'm new to this thread. I've always had my short dark brown hair highlighted professionally, foil frost. I'm presently out of work and I really can't afford to do this right now. I'm looking for a product that will give dark brown hair blonde highlights. I don't think I want white blond but maybe light blonde, no red or yellow. I've looked in some stores but I can't seem to find anything for DARK brown hair that will give me this. Also, I've never done highlights myself before and I hate using a cap, this seems to leave me with large "blobs" of blonde in some spots and less in others. This is why I like the foils better. Since my hair is dark, I need the blonde to be fairly uniform, otherwise it just looks like someone threw a bucket of bleach at me. Any suggestions, especially for a beginner?      JCA


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## jgpgdldcj (Feb 22, 2012)

I have alot of red and goldtones in my hair. My hair is dark brown.I usually put this purple liquid red gold tone corrector in my bleach.Its a little plastic vial i buy at sallys.It takes out the gold and red tones. Matrix powder bleache is also very good .Can buy on ebay. I use a temp toner called colorgloss .Makes hair nice . doesn't damage.I use Redkin shampoo and extreme conditioner and i also use redkin anti snap leave in conditioner. Im sure that another kind of toner would be better for you. But all of the other things I listed are very good.


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## meganvicious (Apr 10, 2012)

Hi I see that you were interested in the products that other people use. My hair is naturally very dark brown. I decided to go platinum and these are the products I used:

L'oreal Quick Blue powder bleach

Salon Care 40 volume creme developer (provides the highest lift power)

Wella Color Charm t-18 or t-14 (t-18 is "white lady" it's a violet toner which is good for yellowness, but the t-14 is a violet-blue toner which pulls out both the orange and the yellow which I feel worked better than the t-18)

Ion Keratin conditioner

Ion Color sealer

Ion Overnight repair (deep conditioner)

So, the mix I use is one scoop of the bleach powder with 1/4 cup of the developer. I have a little longer than shoulder length hair so I use about three scoops of powder and 3/4 cup developer. I mix it up until it's nice and frothy and then I section out my hair starting at the bottom. I leave it on about 45 minutes with a processing cap no heat. Then I rinse it out really well condition with Ion keratin conditioner let that sit 5 minutes. I let my hair air dry and then for the toner I do 1 tbsp toner to 2 tbsp developer. I let that sit with a processing cap for 1 hr. When I rinse it out I use the coldest water I can stand and then afterwards do a mix of 1/2 Ion keratin conditioner and 1/2 Ion color sealer. let that sit for 5 minutes rinse with cold water. For upkeep of my platinum I use Sally's brand of Clairol Shimmer Lights shampoo. Since my hair was so dark when I started I had to bleach my hair all over 3 different times. This made my hair very weak so to help put the keratin back in my hair I use the Ion overnight repair conditioner I try to let it sit for 24 hours once a week.


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## gulfcharmer (Jun 25, 2013)

You can get the platinum results you want if you have already bleached your hair but fist you need to repair the hair to get the correct color . First wash your hair with a nice gentle cleaning like Organix coconut shampoo you follow with a conditioner I also like organix coconut . Rinse hair well and towel dry but don't be rough with the towel as you already have damage . Now you want to apply a product called apogee really work it in deep but again lightly . leave it on until it dries completely . It's best if used with heat but while drying don't touch the hair as it gets so stiff it will break off. Now rinse well again dry hair but gently . Now mix wella color charm toner T 14 but use 40 volume crÃ¨me developer and go for a 50/50 ratio . do a strand test after 15 minutes always test the back as it's more dense than the bang or front hair . Once your hair is at the level you want rinse it well and again easy with the fingers . Shampoo lightly rinse lightly dry and apply a very deep conditioner . I have to say I still love the queen Helene cholesterol and wear a plastic bag and hang out read a book do your nails wait at least 30 minutes rinse well towel dry style and enjoy .


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